


the repeated image of a lover destroyed

by peachmaisie



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Mentions of Matt Murdock - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 07:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16677052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachmaisie/pseuds/peachmaisie
Summary: Elektra had been the only real comfort Karen had with Foggy gone and the rest of the world unsure of what had really happened to Matt Murdock. There was no one she could talk to, no one who would understand and suddenly there had been a knock on the door and there she stood, the woman she'd found in Matt's bed that night an eternity ago.She had explained how she was going to continue on Matt's work, do her best to keep Hell's Kitchen safe as he would have wanted and Karen couldn't find it in her to be angry. Maybe she should have been, this stranger to her had turned back up in Matt's life and torn everything apart. Perhaps that was why she wasn't angry, or even upset. Karen knew what it felt like to have everything you touch die, the last thing she wanted was to be the one added any more guilt to this woman's conscience.A strange friendship had bloomed, one where as time passed Elektra felt okay about seeking Karen's help upon getting a little too banged up to deal with her injuries alone. She too had no one, everyone she'd ever loved either dead or wishing she in fact was. How it was possible to be lonely in New York City, she'd never know but at least she wasn't alone in that feeling.





	the repeated image of a lover destroyed

"Busy day?" Karen inquired as she cleaned the cut decorating Elektra's side, raw and weeping but thankfully not too deep. She'd been lucky, this time. They sat on her couch, most of Elektra's clothes left in a messy pile at their feet, leaving her half-naked and bloody— Karen might have been worried if this wasn't even close to being the first time she'd found herself in this situation.

It wasn't a daily occurrence, only sporadic enough for it to feel like each time her window creaked open in the dead of night was the first time. Elektra had some manners, tried not to come stumbling into Karen's apartment at too late of an hour but she didn't always realize the time. The sounds of a shadow moving around her apartment would wake Karen from her slumber and before she knew it, she was examining whatever injury Elektra had come to obtain.

It had been four months since Matt died, cradled in Elektra's arms as he took his last breath on the rooftop overlooking New York. Elektra had been trying to fill the space he'd left, not only for herself but for the city that had grown so desperate for their Devil to return. He wasn't going to return though, not ever. Elektra had never considered herself to be a hero but maybe Matt had, and maybe that was why he had died. Was it not her right, her duty to do him proud in death?

"No more so than the last." Elektra didn't have Matt's senses, couldn't find a person in need of saving in a matter of seconds but she did her best. Every night she stalked the rooftops, waiting for a scream close enough for her to intervene. It was mostly women and the men who thought themselves to be strong, big enough and important enough to own whatever he touched. Thankfully, there was an easy solution for that. You can't touch anyone if you don't have a hand, can't hurt anyone if you're left to bleed out in the alley.

Karen said nothing in response, instead focused on cleaning up the last of the wound with her saline. It was early, the sun barely peeking its head above the horizon and as much as she appreciated the company, she didn't appreciate it as much as she did the warmth of her own bed.

Things had been lonely ever since everything happened with Matt, she knew she couldn't blame Foggy for keeping his distance but it hurt nonetheless. He saw her and thought of Matt, all the years they were meant to have left together and suddenly those plans were gone and he was left with a tombstone and his partner in the ground. Karen had almost felt wrong for mourning, who was she to feel sad when Foggy had lost his best friend? She loved them both but she knew deep down when it came down to it, they'd always have chosen each other over her.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay." And she was glad, truly. Elektra had been the only real comfort Karen had with Foggy gone, the rest of the world and herself unsure of what had really happened to Matt Murdock. There was no one she could talk to, no one who would understand and suddenly there had been a knock on the door and there she stood, the woman she'd found in Matt's bed that night an eternity ago.

She had explained everything. Daredevil, The Hand, who she was and how she had gotten involved. It was all a lot to take in and it only continued. Elektra told her how she was going to continue on Matt's work, do her best to keep Hell's Kitchen safe as he would have wanted and Karen couldn't find it in herself to be angry. Maybe she should have been, this person had turned back up in Matt's life and torn everything apart. Perhaps that was why she wasn't angry, or even upset. Karen knew what it felt like to have everything you touch die, the last thing she wanted was to be the one added any more guilt to this woman's conscience.

A strange friendship had bloomed, one where as time passed Elektra felt okay about seeking Karen's help upon getting a little too banged up to deal with her injuries alone. She too had no one, everyone she'd ever loved either dead or wishing she in fact was. How it was possible to be lonely in New York City, she'd never know but at least she wasn't alone in that feeling.

Elektra watched Karen get up from the couch to go throw away the bloody cotton pads, taking in her slouched posture and the sway of her hair with each heavy-footed step. She knew she didn't deserve this kindness, that she was intruding on Karen's life and overstaying her welcome but she couldn't find it within her to do anything about it. She enjoyed Karen's company and had realized almost immediately after their first meeting exactly why Matt had liked her so much.

"It's all thanks to you," Elektra said with a glimpse of a smile before she was reaching down to the ground to get her shirt. Her wound ached as she stretched down, barely managing to brush her fingertips against the fabric before Karen had rushed over and grabbed the shirt.

She went to hand it back over before she touched the stain where Elektra's wound and seeped through the fabric, coating the tips of her fingers with her blood. Before thinking about washing her hands, Karen's head first went to finding Elektra something she could wear instead. Somewhere along the way, Karen had started to truly care about Elektra. At first, she'd thought it was because she had been important to Matt but she was starting to realize that Matt had nothing to do with it, that these feelings were simply her own.

"I'll—uh, I'll find you something else." Suddenly slightly flustered by the sight of Elektra sat in front of her, all warm tan skin on show and hand extended out towards her, Karen tightened her grip on her shirt and made a bee-line for her bedroom.

Karen wiped her fingers clean across Elektra's shirt before throwing it towards her laundry basket, clothes already overflowing from it but at least she had a motive to finally do them now. As she rummaged around in her drawers to find something for Elektra to wear, she thought back to how Elektra had looked when she had stumbled into her apartment that morning. Their relationship was akin to that of a person and an alley cat, she knew she could not spend her days worried about what Elektra was doing and yet there was still some fear, there was a reason she left her windows unlocked after all.

After grabbing the first soft cotton shirt her hands came in contact with, Karen paused before leaving the room. Her bed was right there, ready and waiting for her to cuddle back into. While the temptation was strong, Karen chose Elektra without even thinking about it.

"I'll bandage you up and then you’ll be all good." Passing her shirt over to Elektra, Karen sat down beside her again and took the bandages from the first aid kid balanced on her coffee table. It hadn't left there for months, why would it when the only time she sat on her couch was when Elektra was around?

Elektra nodded and rubbed the pajama shirt between her fingers as she watched Karen fiddle with the bandage, her nimble long fingers getting the tape ready. Could she have taken care of her wound by herself? Probably, she had done for years but the selfish part of her wanted to see Karen and didn't care how or when.

While messing with the tape, Karen didn’t notice Elektra’s hand reach out to tuck a stray strand of blonde hair out from her face. The touch startled her, jumping back away from the flame before realizing how tame of a touch it had been. It had just been a while, a little long since she'd been touched by another person. People were afraid to now, worried she was still too fragile to handle even the simplest of things, a handshake after a good meeting at work.

Before Karen could apologize, Elektra's hand was back again and she tucked the hair behind Karen's ear, letting her fingers fall and trace across the gentle curve of her jaw. The touch was too tender, the closest they'd ever been which was saying a lot since Karen had seen Elektra in her underwear multiple times. She'd had her hands on her body, her blood staining her clothes but this, she'd never felt quite so exposed in her entire life. Did Elektra feel the same? Karen often wondered what it was like inside her head, they shared small conversations here and there but never diving too deep. Maybe this was a relief to her as well, to have someone she could touch who wasn't going to abandon her.

"Why are you so kind to me?" Elektra brushed her finger across the swell of her cheeks and suddenly Karen was a teenager again, her stomach filled with butterflies as the pretty girl across the room made eye contact with her. She was at a party, putting on a show for all the boys by making out with the girl she'd been staring at all night while secreting wishing it was only them, the world silent around them as their lips touched.

"Because you're not a bad person," Karen said with as much confidence as she could muster. She wasn't scared, Elektra had never scared her, even in moments where it would have been wise to be. This, however, was as close as she had ever gotten to being scared, not because she feared what Elektra was going to do but rather what she was going to say. The air felt different, heavier than before like it was preparing for a storm.

Elektra had been in love before, she'd been loved in return but it was messy and never ended well. Loving Matt had been worthwhile, never would she regret the time they had together but he had never made her feel like she was a good person. It was always that she could become one, if they were together they could work on it until whatever badness had been chewing at her soul was finally banished. Karen though, she believed she was already good. There was no one to listen to her heartbeat but Elektra knew the truth when she heard it.

"You're the first person to ever say that to me." Elektra smiled, sadly. While she didn't particularly believe what Karen had said, it was still nice to hear. No one wanted to feel like a bad person, even though she had many a time tried to embrace her so-called darkness. Still clutching Karen's shirt in her other hand, she continued her gentle caress of Karen's face, feather-like strokes across blushing cheeks.

"Yeah, I guess we all need to hear it, sometimes," Karen said through a breathy laugh, barely resisting the urge to nuzzle up against Elektra's hand, to be cradled like something precious and worth saving. Instead, she kept still and watched the concentrated look on Elektra's face play out. It was all manageable until the pad of her thumb swiped across her bottom lip and Karen then thought her heart might just stop then and there.

Men had never brought out this kind of reaction in her, she could breathe without them but if Elektra were to stop touching her, would she even exist afterward? Like her entire life had been building up to this moment and once it was over, the world would fade to black.

Tracing her thumb across Karen's bottom lip then around to the top, Elektra knew she wasn't being the good person Karen claimed her to be. It was wrong, she shouldn't have been inserting herself into her life in the first place let alone toying with her in such a way. It wasn't malicious, she could never do that to Karen, not to her but how could she not fall for the first person to ever see her as a person? Not as a challenge or a weapon, not someone to be fixed but a person; nothing more, nothing less.

"Kiss me."

Had Karen not already been a statue, Elektra's words would have rendered her motionless. There was no taking her words for anything than what they were, playing it off like some joke or game she didn't quite understand the rules to. Elektra had never been anything but straight with her, honest even when the truth hurt— she admired that about her, Matt had always dealt in lies but Elektra wasn't like that.

It took a few seconds for it to click in Karen's head that Elektra wasn't moving forward, she wanted her to make the first move. The queen was hers for the taking, she just had to take that first step. She let out a small exhale as she scanned across Elektra's face, taking in each beautiful detail while trying to work out why now? Why her? Her lips were chapped and parted, pinker on the inside and Karen would be lying if she said she didn't want to kiss her, that didn't mean she could though.

Karen watched the gears turn behind Elektra's eyes as she realized that Karen wasn't going to do as she said, her mouth slowly shut and her jaw clenched, sharpening her already dagger edge of a jawline. She didn't frown or ask again, she gave the same sad smile from before and pulled her hand back from Karen's face.

"Thank you again, for taking care of me." And like that, Elektra was moving to stand up from the couch. Before she could stand up straight, Karen had reached out and grabbed her wrist. Her hand fit loosely around it, swallowing up Elektra's thin wrist which she knew held hands that had killed. Still, Karen held her and felt her pulse beating softly through the soft pads of her fingers.

"Stay." She didn't know what she wanted from Elektra, things were still too raw, she wanted to be as helpful as she could but being a stepping stone for getting over Matt was not something she could handle; she was better than that, Elektra was better. "I mean— I still need to bandage your side, and I..." Karen knew by now that Elektra would not prompt her, that if she did not speak now then she would just leave and it'd be Karen and her lonesome bed once again. "It'd be nice not to be alone."

Elektra stared down at her wrist, almost feeling ashamed of how much she craved that simple of a touch. She didn't want to be alone either, so without any words, she slowly sat back down on the couch beside Karen, her shirt still clasped between her now fist. She had never been a patient person, perhaps that had caused so many of the issues in her life but for Karen, she could wait. Elektra didn't even know what it was she was waiting for but whatever it was, it would be worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> check me out on tumblr at ["maggiemurdock"](http://maggiemurdock.tumblr.com/) and on [ patreon](https://www.patreon.com/peachmaisie) !!


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